I've always wondered how one find times to work on competitions. From what I've heard, it seems architects put in so many hours at work that there just wouldn't be any left over to dedicate to competitions.
Well, it is indeed extremely difficult to find time to work on competitions in addition to a day job. At least that's my experience of it. Competitions are time consuming, especially if you want to dedicate the necessary time to do things well and in a professional manner. I work in a crappy commercial office so i tend to force myself to work on at least 2 competitions a year -might not sound like much but I tend to select the competitions i enter carefully and working on them usually leaves me drained for a while- in order to keep my architectural 'mind and alertness' going. Typically that will involve working weekends and at night after work, which means you don't get much sleep -or no sleep at all- and always end up caught in an insane rush when the deadline approaches. This process is very intense and can prove exhausting but i personnally find it necessary to work on competitions to keep my 'architectural awareness' alive considering how lame my office is and the fact that i could end up hibernating there for the rest of my life if i dont push myself to do other things. On the plus side i also find it an extremely rewarding feeling when you actually wrap up a competition and send it off for judging. In other words it's all about making time and dealing with the madness associated with that, ie the sleep deprivation and giving up your social life for a given period of time, if only twice a year for a few weeks. At worst your porfolio will get better, at best you'll place and might get something built. Has any of you guys spotted a good one you would recommend entering recently??
As practitioners of the black arts, all true architectural masters are adept at bending the "rules" of Kronos to their whims - mere titan that he is - and commune with Hypnos only under severe duress. You learn these things in grad school - at least if you go to the right places.
I work 55-60 hours a week and just spent another 28 hrs doing boards for a comp this weekend. Labor of love. And as the deadline approached last night at 1:30 am I realized that once again Id have no time for spell check if I wanted to keep my job.
You try to forget that sleep exists, & avoid any indication of it at all costs.
But then you spend the aftermath trying to remember what life was like & try to find again it at any cost.
i think there should be an archinect hook up. It would be nice to have people still in school team up with professionals that want to do competitions, I think it would be fruitful for all involved.
Right now Im doing one with friends via web/phone/etc....
The beauty of the internet and modern communications.
i second the advice on carefully consideration of what and when to do.
strangely enough i find it easier to work on design comps when im also working on schematic design at work, something about a particular frame of mind i guess. its much harder to move from doco at work to design comps in the evening, even though i though it would be a nice way to get some stimulation away from annotating details. writing schedules must have dammaged my brain.
I also work 50-65 hours a week. Married, children. For me, the key is
to only enter the ones that really interest me; I've only entered 2, both international, both individual efforts and was a finalist for each.
I did the work between 10pm and 2am. Took the last week off from work to finish the submission.
Its also important to have a space to do the work in. Working in the kitchen with others watching TV won't do it. Look constantly, be selective in choosing projects that interest you in a way that will advance your portfolio and experience vis a vie a "body of work".
I don't know about staying in academia providing more time (unless your studio work pays price) but I did one national competition in the last two weeks of grad school that got an honorable mention. After doing a dozen or so competitions over the years, at varied levels of time investment, it became pretty clear with the two national ones in which we took first prize, that it meant a good 5 weeks or so of solid effort (twice in a row for one of them, which was two stage) to pull of a win for a medium sized building with a good jury. But then again, the other quicker efforts were still worth every minute for their continuation of various lines of design research -- we just didn't delude ourselves (or slightly less) in those cases that we had a fighting chance...
i just finished a comp in jan, and the announcement just put to rest any delusions i kept trying to tell myself not to have. but i'm only hungrier for the next. i find it worthwhile in several ways- one being the thought in the back of my head that i have a possible escape from the everyday job. i spent 5 weeks on this last one, working nights and secluding myself on weekends, and came up short. in a previous one i spent 3 weeks off and on while on vacation, with relatively little stress and came up a finalist. (i didn't have a job then). you never know, and that not knowing is exciting. if you feel you put in a good project, its worth it no matter what.
How do you find time for competitions?
I've always wondered how one find times to work on competitions. From what I've heard, it seems architects put in so many hours at work that there just wouldn't be any left over to dedicate to competitions.
So... how do you find time?
Well, it is indeed extremely difficult to find time to work on competitions in addition to a day job. At least that's my experience of it. Competitions are time consuming, especially if you want to dedicate the necessary time to do things well and in a professional manner. I work in a crappy commercial office so i tend to force myself to work on at least 2 competitions a year -might not sound like much but I tend to select the competitions i enter carefully and working on them usually leaves me drained for a while- in order to keep my architectural 'mind and alertness' going. Typically that will involve working weekends and at night after work, which means you don't get much sleep -or no sleep at all- and always end up caught in an insane rush when the deadline approaches. This process is very intense and can prove exhausting but i personnally find it necessary to work on competitions to keep my 'architectural awareness' alive considering how lame my office is and the fact that i could end up hibernating there for the rest of my life if i dont push myself to do other things. On the plus side i also find it an extremely rewarding feeling when you actually wrap up a competition and send it off for judging. In other words it's all about making time and dealing with the madness associated with that, ie the sleep deprivation and giving up your social life for a given period of time, if only twice a year for a few weeks. At worst your porfolio will get better, at best you'll place and might get something built. Has any of you guys spotted a good one you would recommend entering recently??
As practitioners of the black arts, all true architectural masters are adept at bending the "rules" of Kronos to their whims - mere titan that he is - and commune with Hypnos only under severe duress. You learn these things in grad school - at least if you go to the right places.
I work 55-60 hours a week and just spent another 28 hrs doing boards for a comp this weekend. Labor of love. And as the deadline approached last night at 1:30 am I realized that once again Id have no time for spell check if I wanted to keep my job.
why not work a firm doing competition regularly?
when we did that at one firm, it was in addition to regularly scheduled work and crunch week came down to 1 or 2 am nights. But it was fun.
You try to forget that sleep exists, & avoid any indication of it at all costs.
But then you spend the aftermath trying to remember what life was like & try to find again it at any cost.
Alot like ________
i think there should be an archinect hook up. It would be nice to have people still in school team up with professionals that want to do competitions, I think it would be fruitful for all involved.
Right now Im doing one with friends via web/phone/etc....
The beauty of the internet and modern communications.
sleep is useless.
anyone doing the caravan design one? it's 20000 pounds!
i second the advice on carefully consideration of what and when to do.
strangely enough i find it easier to work on design comps when im also working on schematic design at work, something about a particular frame of mind i guess. its much harder to move from doco at work to design comps in the evening, even though i though it would be a nice way to get some stimulation away from annotating details. writing schedules must have dammaged my brain.
I also work 50-65 hours a week. Married, children. For me, the key is
to only enter the ones that really interest me; I've only entered 2, both international, both individual efforts and was a finalist for each.
I did the work between 10pm and 2am. Took the last week off from work to finish the submission.
Its also important to have a space to do the work in. Working in the kitchen with others watching TV won't do it. Look constantly, be selective in choosing projects that interest you in a way that will advance your portfolio and experience vis a vie a "body of work".
From time to time, but mostly work at home on weekends.
does staying in academia provides more time for preparing competitions?
I don't know about staying in academia providing more time (unless your studio work pays price) but I did one national competition in the last two weeks of grad school that got an honorable mention. After doing a dozen or so competitions over the years, at varied levels of time investment, it became pretty clear with the two national ones in which we took first prize, that it meant a good 5 weeks or so of solid effort (twice in a row for one of them, which was two stage) to pull of a win for a medium sized building with a good jury. But then again, the other quicker efforts were still worth every minute for their continuation of various lines of design research -- we just didn't delude ourselves (or slightly less) in those cases that we had a fighting chance...
i just finished a comp in jan, and the announcement just put to rest any delusions i kept trying to tell myself not to have. but i'm only hungrier for the next. i find it worthwhile in several ways- one being the thought in the back of my head that i have a possible escape from the everyday job. i spent 5 weeks on this last one, working nights and secluding myself on weekends, and came up short. in a previous one i spent 3 weeks off and on while on vacation, with relatively little stress and came up a finalist. (i didn't have a job then). you never know, and that not knowing is exciting. if you feel you put in a good project, its worth it no matter what.
Congratulations on your ability to multi-task successfully.
"Sleep? That sounds like something the competition does."
hey everyone - check out the 'relevant' google ads above.
Well, to answer a question from the "dating" thread, it's a good reson to marry an architect, isn't it?
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